JL1.PRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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! UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.! 




' And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel."— Matt. xiv. 11. 
Frontispiece. 



M 



SALOME 



THE 



DANCER. 



j 



By REV. ISAAC K. LOOS. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
S. R. FISHER & CO. 

54 NORTH SIXTH STREET. 






5 '> : ' 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 

S. R. FISHER & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Eastern District of 

Pennsylvania. 



JAS. B. RODGERS CO., 

ELECTROTYPERS AND PRINTERS, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



F 



ONTENTS 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

CHAPTEK I. 

Salome's Ancestry and Parentage. 

Herod the Great, her grandfather. Jesus horn in his reign. Death 
of Herod. Marianine. Salome's lineage — Her beauty — Ill-treated by 
her husband. Her violent death. Her character. Herod Philip. 
Herodias. — Her marriage to Philip; — to Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee 
during the time of our Saviour 7 

CHAPTEE II. 

Birth of Salome. 

Bate of. Her name — Childhood— Exposed to injurious moral 
influences 14 

CHAPTER III. 

Salome's Personal Appearance. 

Luxurious habits of her life 20 

CHAPTER IV. 

Herod's Birthday. 

Birthday festivals. Pharaoh's the first on record. Description of 

Herod's 25 

iii 



iv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 
Salome's Dance. 

Dancing in the East. A religious ceremony among the Hebrews. 
Opinion of Dr. Olshausen - 31 

CHAPTER VI. 

Herod's Promise. 

Delighted with the dance. His oath 35 

CHAPTER VII. 

Salome's Bequest. 

Prompted by her mother. Substance of the Request. Herodias' 
revenge 37 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Herod grants her Request. 

The regret of the king. Reasons for compliance... 42 

CHAPTER IX. 

Death of John the Baptist. 

Description of his imprisonment — "Vindictive Spirit of Herodias — 
Manner of his death. Herods Complicity. John's Burial and 
character 46 

CHAPTER X. 

Salome's After-life. 

Her subsequent history. Traditions concerning — Mention of— by 
Josephus 54 

CHAPTER XI. 

Dancing. 

Among the Israelites. Modern Dancing. Opinions of Richter, 
Luther, Calvin, Gerlach, Nevin. — Conclusion 59 



*OT^i 



NTRODUCTORY 



J 1 



OTE. 



The study of Bible characters is at all times inter- 
esting and instructive. We see much in the life of 
the holy ones of Scripture, to commend and imitate; 
and much in that of the wicked, to dislike and shun. 
The sketch, which we here offer for the use of Sunday 
Schools and the general reader, is intended to portray 
the principal features of the life of one, whose inhu- 
manity excites in every bosom a deep feeling of pity 
and abhorrence. To our young readers the lessons 
these pages contain may be of some service, in teaching 
them to avoid the empty frivolities of the world and 
to cherish and practice the solid and beautiful virtues, 
of which Salome was unfortunately destitute. 

We lay this, our humble attempt in the delineation 
of the life of Salome, the Dancer, with reverence at the 



vi INTR OD UCTOR Y NOTE. 

feet of our Lord and of His Christ, hoping that it may- 
be the means of inciting the reader "to keep himself 
unspotted from the world." If it direct a single soul 
to Christ, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin 
of the world, we shall not have written in vain. 



ISAAC K. LOOS. 



Bethlehem, Pa., 
January 15th, 1869. 



LIFE 



OF 



SALOME THE DANCER. 



CHAPTER I. 



salome's ancestry axd parentage. 

THE ancestors of Salome, for several 
generations, stand in the following 
order : 

1. Herod the Great, and his wife Ma- 



riamne. 



2. Herod Philip, and his wife Herodias, 
— -sister of Herod Agrippa and daughter 
of Aristobulus, son of Herod the Great. 



8 SALOME THE DANCER. 

3. Salome the Dancer, daughter of 
Herod Philip and Herodias. 

It may not be uninteresting to glance 
at these personages, by the side of whom 
the character of " Herodias' daughter " 
will be portrayed. A slight acquaintance 
will at once tell whether they cast light 
or shade upon her life ; and what influ- 
ence they may have exerted upon her in 
the direction of those acts, which doomed 
her to an unenviable fame — an ignomini- 
ous immortality. 

1. Salomes grandfather, Herod, sur- 
named the Great from his power and 
talents, but undeserving of that honor for 
any virtues he possessed, was the son of 
Antipater of Idumea; a man of fierce 
and ungovernable passions and of the 
most savage cruelty. He had ten wives. 
With unrelenting barbarity he condemned 
and put to death, not only his wife's mo- 
ther and brother and venerable grand- 



ANCESTR Y AND PARENT A GE. 9 

father, but also, two of his own sons* and 
Mariamne his own wife. To find even one 
ray of light in the dark career of this man 
affords ground of rejoicing ; and faithful- 
ness to history requires us to state, that 
keen remorse for his wife's death caused 
him to repent of that fiendish act. 

Jesus was born in the last year of 
Herod's reign. In order to destroy Him, 
he with his usual cruelty, ordered the 
destruction of all the children of two 
years old and under, in Bethlehem. He 
was the first Gentile that filled the Jewish 
throne. Josephus says of him : "A man 
he was of great barbarity toward all men 
equally, and a slave to his passions; but 
above the consideration of what was 
right," His cup of iniquity was full at 
last; and God, in his just judgment 



* No -wonder that Augustus, on hearing of this murder, said : 
" Melius est Herodis porcum esse, quam filium," which trans- 
lated means, that it was better to be Herod's hog than his son. 



10 SALOME THE DANCER, 

already in this life, visited his sins upon 
him ; and he died, after a reign of thirty- 
seven years, aged sixty-eight years, of a 
languishing and loathsome disease — in 
March or early in April — about a year, or 
between one and two years, according to 
more accurate chronology, after the birth 
of Christ, 

2. Mariamne, Salome s grandmother y was 
an Arabian princess — grand-daughter of 
Hyrcanus, a prince of the Asmonean fam- 
ily. She was esteemed the most beauti- 
ful woman of her time. She possessed a 
good reputation ; for the people of Jeru- 
salem, we are told, spoke much in her 
commendation. When Herod saw her, 
he was smitten with her beauty, and mar- 
ried her. Her beauty afterwards became 
the innocent occasion of Herod's jealousy; 
and this, together with his unhallowed 
ambition and the calumnies of her ene- 
mies, brought about the death of this 



ANCESTR Y AND PARE NT A GE. 1 1 

chaste and faithful, though somewhat 
imperious queen. It is not strange that 
such a woman, who in spite of her origin 
and condition was in many respects a 
model mother, should be beloved by her 
children. And persons, who have never 
passed through the same ordeal, can 
form no conception of the anguish she 
must have experienced, when she saw her 
affectionate sons torn from her embrace 
and executed by the ruthless command of 
her tyrant lord. Josephus, speaking of 
the close of her life, says: "And thus 
died Mariamne, a woman of an excellent 
character, both for chastity and greatness 
of soul; but she lacked moderation and 
had too much contention in her nature ; 
yet she had all that can be said in the 
beauty of her body and her majestic ap- 
pearance in conversation." 

3. Herod Philip, Salomes father, was 
the son of Herod the Great by Mariamne, 



12 SALOME THE DANCER. 

daughter of Simon, the High priest. 
Having been disinherited by his father, 
he lived a private life 5 and was the first 
husband of Herodias, with whom he had 
children, one of whom is the subject of 
this sketch. He died A. D. 34. 

4. Eerodias was a daughter of Aristo- 
bulus and Berenice, and grand-daughter 
of Herod the Great. She was first mar- 
ried to her uncle Herod Philip, her fathers 
brother, by whom she bore Salome, the 
Dancer. She afterwards abandoned 
Philip and connected herself with his 
brother Herod Antipas. This Antipas 
had himself cast off his former wife, an 
Arabian princess, in order to form this 
illegal connection with Herodias. Antipas 
being Tetrarch of Galilee, our Saviour, as 
a Galilean, was under his jurisdiction. It 
was he who, at the instigation of Herodias, 
caused John the Baptist to be beheaded, 
because that great prophet boldly de- 



AXCESTR Y AND PARENT A GE. 1 3 

nounced the incestuous union that sub- 
sisted between himself and Herodias. It 
was to Herod Antipas, also, that Pilate 
sent our Lord to answer the charge of 
"perverting the nation/' and saying, 
" that he himself is Christ, a king." And 
when Herod saw Jesus, we are told, he 
was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to 
see him of a long season, because he had 
heard many things of him ; and he hoped 
to have seen some miracle done by him. 
Luke xxiii. 1-11. 

"\Yhen Antipas was banished to Lugdu- 
num (now Lyons) in France, Herodias 
accompanied him. Her character, running 
parallel with that of her daughter, will 
more fully appear in the following sketch 
of the life of Salome the Dancer. 




CHAPTER II. 



SALOME S BIRTH. 

WE have no means of ascertaining 
positively the exact time of the 
birth of this young princess, " Herodias' 
daughter." Her father's name, as we 
have seen, was Herod Philip. It is pro- 
bable, that she was born between the 
years twelve and fifteen after Christ. 

The place of her birth is likewise un- 
known. We cannot even ascertain, with 
any degree of certainty, where her pa- 
rents lived during her childhood. It 
must content us to know, that she was 
born of a royal line, and that the scene of 
her life lies among the great of earth. 
Though her parents led a private life, it 
is not by any means certain that they 

14 



SALOMES BIRTH. 15 

were poor. On the contrary, we may just- 
ly infer, from their connection with the 
royal house of Herod, that they lived as 
persons of wealth in luxury and ease. 
As Salome's parents named her after a 
sister of Herod the Great, we may safely 
conclude that they were on terms of 
friendship at least with that princess, who 
would not be likely to allow them to come 
to want. But whether she was born and 
reared in a private mansion, or in one of 
the palace-fortresses of her princely rela- 
tions, we know that Salome's childhood 
was, at least in some respects, like that of 
other children. Her childish joys and 
sorrows, troubles and amusements, she 
shared with others of her age. With 
them she played and gamboled over the 
hills and dales, and under the vines and 
fig trees of her native land. Her delicate 
hands, yet innocent of the blood that 
afterwards stained them, plucked with 



16 SAL03IE THE DANCER, 

glee the lily of the valley, and twined it 
in wreaths with the rose of Sharon — the 
one a type of innocence ; the other of love ! 
Alas! that that rose should ever wither 
and that lily ever fade : that love should 
ever turn to hate, and innocence to guilt ! 
Salome must have been yet young when 
her mother, inflamed by ambition and per- 
haps sensuality, could no longer brook the 
comparatively quiet life she had led, and 
longed for the turmoil of government, and 
the pomp, power and grandeur of royalty. 
It was now that Herod Philip was cast off, 
and Herodias connected herself with an- 
other. This change in her family rela- 
tions could not have been a sudden one. 
There are always gradations in crime; 
and before Herodias separated from her 
first husband, it is probable that she 
was guilty of conduct which exerted any 
other than a good influence upon the 
youthful ; impressible mind of Salome. 



SALOME'S BIRTH. 17 

Love, if it ever existed between her pa- 
rents, forsook their ^hearts, and distrust 
and hatred took possession of them. To 
words of affection and peace and quiet, 
succeeded scoldings, abuse, confusion, crim- 
ination and recrimination. The house was 
divided against itself, and the child ex- 
posed to this moral pestilence could not 
but suffer injury. Instead of being sit- 
uated like children of the Church, where 
the sin inherent in human nature could be 
eradicated by the implantation of a new 
life and Christian training, Salome was 
exposed to the sickening atmosphere of her 
mother's faithless and unhappy home, 
which rather increased than hindered the 
moral corruption going on within her. 
When her mother forsook her father to 
live in incest with Antipas, Salome came 
more than ever under the control of that 
immoral and heartless woman. With 
such a step-father and such a mother, who 

2 



18 SALOME THE DANCER. 

can wonder that she grew up just as she 
did, totally destitute of the finer feelings 
which usually belong to her sex; and 
given over to the sway of sinful passions? 
As well might a field sown with tares 
bring forth wheat, as the heart of Salome 
anything pure and good. Young and 
tender, and ever taught to bow to the 
will of her haughty mother, it was easy 
for Herodias to stamp upon her yielding 
soul the impress of her own worldliness 
and pride. The apt teacher found in her 
daughter a pupil just as apt; and Salome 
rapidly grew up and became more and 
more like her mother, in the Herodian 
vehemence of her passion and the heart- 
less cruelty of her disposition. In this 
case the old proverb was strikingly appli- 
cable: "As is the mother, so is the 
daughter." Ezek. xvi. 44. 

Transferred with her mother to the 
palace of Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch, 



SALOME 9 S BIRTH. 19 

Salome entered upon a career of greater 
splendor and commanded more abundant 
means than formerly for the gratification 
of every desire. Thus, we may believe, 
passed rapidly the days of her childhood 
and early youth. The little girl became 
a maiden princess. She is now "the dam- 
sel" of Scripture. 



¥ 



CHAPTER III. 

Salome's personal appearance. 

E can only guess at the personal ap- 
pearance of Salome, as we have no 
certain means of knowing what it was. 
The photographic art was unknown when 
she lived; and no painter of her age has 
immortalized his name by transferring 
her likeness to canvass. Tradition and 
history are equally silent with regard 
to this point. She may have been 
handsome, or the contrarv. If wealth 
could confer beauty upon her, she was 
doubtless " comely and fair/' for of this 
there was no lack. The money at her 
command was sufficient to procure all in 
the way of dress, which even a princess of 

that age could desire. Splendid clothes, 
20 



PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 21 

white as the purest snow, or colored with 
the highly-esteemed Tyrian dye, and em- 
broidered on both sides with threads of 
gold, or silks from distant Persia, doubt- 
less filled her wardrobe and furnished her 
elegant and costly dresses. The odor of 
aromatics — myrrh, cassia and aloes — 
with which her apparel was perfumed, 
filled her chambers and the hall where 
she danced with exquisite fragrance. 
Her girdles were clasped with gold; her 
braided hair — called "plaited tresses" in 
the Bible — was perfumed with the most 
precious oil, mixed with costly spices 
from India. Expensive head-dresses, fan- 
tastically decorated, and veils of the finest 
fabric covered her head. On her fingers 
shone rings of gold, sparkling with the 
diamonds of the East. In her ears were 
pendants of precious stones, or pearls set 
with costly gems. Golden circles em- 
bellished her ankles; and jeweled neck- 



22 SALOME THE DANCER. 

laces rivaled in splendor the ornamented 
bracelets around her wrists, or the chains 
about her neck. Her purse of solid gold 
was well supplied with coins, which were 
more lavishly squandered on objects of 
pride than of charity. 

In short, had fortune been capable of 
purchasing beauty, the polished brass 
mirror in the hand or in the chamber of 
Salome, would surely have reflected a fe- 
male of no ordinary loveliness. And 
then, too, she had no youthful care but 
that pertaining to herself. Her delicate 
hands were never hardened with toil. In 
Palestine, women of ordinary circum- 
stances in life were at that time accus- 
tomed to labor; but Salome's position 
exempted her from work. She neither 
ground her flour nor baked her bread; 
she neither spun nor wove. Concern for 
this life rested lightly upon her. No sor- 
rows to make her prematurely old — to 
draw deep lines of care upon her face — to 



PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 23 

dim the brightness of her eyes or cast a 
gloom over her spirit. Besides all this, 
may not the fine form and handsome fea- 
tures of her grand-mother Mariamne have 
been inherited by her? 

And yet we are not certain that Sa- 
lome was beautiful. She may have had 
excellent gifts of mind and heart, but 
these were early made to yield to base 
passions and barbarous cruelty. And 
though her form and features had been 
perfect, the spirit that animated them 
and looked out through her eyes — the win- 
dows of the soul — must have greatly 
marred their beauty. The inhuman dis- 
position which manifested itself in her 
youth could not fail to make her, who 
might otherwise have been hailed with 
joy as a benefactress of all around her, 
disagreeable to the pure and good. 

That Salome, the Dancer, had her at- 
tractions in the eyes of Herod and his 
company cannot be doubted. She was 



24 SALOME THE DANCER. 

certainly admired by them, but if it was 
for her beauty, it must have been the 
beauty of her person and not of her soul. 
" Handsome is who handsome does " is 
a sentiment as true as it is old. Mea- 
sured by this rule, Salome was not hand- 
some, for she did not act handsomely. 
But as she failed, it becomes all who 
study her life to improve its lessons. 
Will not every one of our readers, there- 
fore, learn from her errors to choose the 
right and good, and to act in all things 
as baptized and confirmed members of the 
Church ought to act? They possess 
more light and greater privileges than 
Salome ever did. In the family, in the 
world, and in the Church, our hands find 
a great work to do ; and angels and men 
admire the child, the youth, the maiden, 
the man and the woman, who " beauti- 
fully does " this work, not for self, but for 
Christ and the good of souls. 



CHAPTER IV. 

herod's birthday. 

THE earliest account, which we possess 
of the celebration of a birthday is 
that recorded in the fortieth chapter of 
Genesis and the twentieth verse. We 
there read : "And it came to pass the 
third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, 
that he made a feast unto all his servants." 
That was in the time of Joseph, more 
than seventeen hundred years before 
Christ. It is likely that long before that 
time even, kings and princes celebrated 
the anniversaries of their birth with 
sumptuous entertainments. From that 
period to the days of Herod, and down to 
our own time, this custom has been gen- 
erally observed. 

25 



26 SALOME THE DANGER, 

The month and the day of Herod's 
birth being unknown, it is impossible for 
us to determine with precision the par- 
ticular birthday alluded to in Matt. xiv. 
6. There is some uncertainty even as to 
the year in which this feast occurred. 
It is, however, probable that it took 
place in the thirty-second year of Christ. 
The occasion at all events was an import- 
ant one, and was regarded as such by 
Herod himself, in whose honor the day 
was celebrated. 

Wealthy Komans often kept their 
birthday feasts in gardens, but Herod 
preferred the palace. The magnificent 
halls were dressed in the habiliments of 
gaiety, and adorned with hangings beau- 
tiful as the curtains of Solomon. There 
were spacious chambers for the invited 
guests, laid with carpets of richest ma- 
terials and well supplied with luxurious 
furniture. There were marbled pave- 



HEROD'S BIRTHDAY. 27 

ments and cloistered courts, with foun- 
tains playing in the midst of them. For 
seats they had divans with bolsters of 
velvet or damask, richly perfumed with 
the rarest aromatics. Cups of gold and 
silver also, filled with choicest vrines from 
the hill-sides of Palestine, and borne in 
the hands of scores of servants, testified 
to the opulence and luxury, the effeminacy 
and perhaps the extravagance of Herod. 
Herod the king was one year older. 
His birthday had come again ; and ac- 
cording to the custom of the times it must 
be celebrated in a manner thought be- 
coming to his high dignity. Invitations to 
the royal feast and the ball at court, 
had gone forth to the great men of the 
land. The necessary preparations were 
all completed. The fowl and the fishes 
and the beasts had been taken and slain 
— the daintiest dishes had been provided 
for palates accustomed to sumptuous and 



28 SALOME THE DANCER. 

delicious fare. The supper was ready. 
In compliance with Herod's request or 
command, " the lords, high captains and 
chief estates" — the noblemen, military 
officers and wealthy men — of Galilee as- 
sembled themselves and were ushered 
into the palace. Numerous servants 
were there, to do the bidding of their 
master and his guests. Music too was 
there, and a band from the Eoman legion 
enlivened the occasion, and made the gay 
day gayer still. 

When the herald, shouting " Koom for 
the king," announced that Herod was 
about coming into the hall of feasting, all 
sounds were hushed, and the guests with 
almost breathless expectation awaited 
the appearance of their royal host. The 
door opens and Herod enters with his 
guard, welcomed by a thousand voices 
and the burst of instrumental music. 
The music continues while he ascends 



HEROD'S BIRTHDA F. 29 

his throne and complacently views the 
throng of princes who are there to do him 
honor. Herodias, his wife and queen, is 
also there. Reclining on a divan to the 
left of, and lower than Herod's seat, she 
is filled with passions and schemes of her 
own, of which her delighted husband 
dreams not. The congratulations of the 
assembly are presented to Herod, and all 
loudly exclaim, " king, live forever." 
Conversation, too, goes briskly on. The 
" supper " is a festival of drinking, such 
as the Hebrews called Mishteli, though as 
above stated food was also provided. 
The freely-flowing wine sparkles in the 
golden cups, and the merry jests and loud 
laughter betray, even to the guards out- 
side, the excess to which the reveling is 
carried within. The lords, high captains 
and wealthy men of Galilee were free 
that day even in Herod's presence, and 



30 SALOME THE DANCER. 

vied with each other to make his birth- 
day a day of unusual festivity and joy. 

The day was wearing on ; the effects of 
excessive drinking became apparent in the 
assembly, and Herod himself was flushed 
with wine, "when the daughter of the 
said Herodias came in, and danced, and 
pleased Herod, and them that sat with 
him." Mark vi. 22. This dancer, the 
daughter of Herodias, was Salome. 




fSSSSum 



CHAPTER V. 

salome's dance. 

THE peculiar nature of the old Hebrew 
dance is not exactly known. The 
Hebrew word translated " dance" in the 
Old Testament signifies "to go or move 
in a circle," ""to leap/' &c. The Vulgate 
translates it leap — Salome "leaped." 
From this signification of the word, and 
the unchanging customs of oriental na- 
tions, we may perhaps justly conclude 
that Salome's dance resembled in style 
the dance still prevailing in the East. 
The dance now practised by the women 
of Egypt is a kind of swinging walk ac- 
companied with violent and indecorous 
inflexions and distortions of the body 
and many gesticulations with the hands. 

31 



32 SALOME TEE DANCER. 

"They dance," says a recent traveler, 

"to their own music, each playing and 

v 
dancing at the same time." When there 

was a party of dancers together, they 
chose one for a leader, and then dancing 
to the notes of the timbrel, they followed, 
" beating the floor in a circle with regular 
and artificial strokes of the feet." 

The dance as practised by the Hebrews 
was a religious ceremony, which even 
princes and nobles engaged in, but did 
not mingle in it with the common multi- 
tude. To do so was considered unbe- 
coming to persons of rank and character. 
At feasts, the guests never engaged in the 
dance; they were but listeners and spec- 
tators, the singers and dancers being 
usually hired for the occasion. These 
professional dancers were frequently 
women of abandoned character, and their 
dances were correspondingly indecent. 
Of course nothing obscene was permitted 



SALOME'S DANCE. 33 

to appear in the religious dance of the 
Jews. 

In the later periods of the Jewish his- 
tory the principal families of the Jews, 
and especially the princes of Palestine, 
seem to have adopted the Greek panto- 
mime. This was an imitative dance, " in 
which the dancers expressed in gesture 
and action whatever the chorus sang, 
changing their countenance and behavior 
as the subject of the song varied." This 
may have been the dance performed by 
Salome. On this point Dr. Olshausen 
says: "We are doubtless to understand 
the dancing of the daughter of Herodias 
to have been the mimic dance, but not ex- 
actly nor necessarily unchaste. On the 
part of the step-daughter (Salome was 
her name), this is hardly conceivable." 

The music to which she danced, vocal 
or instrumental, or both, was at least 
partly her own. Perhaps, too, on the 



34 



SALOME TEE DANCER. 



present occasion — the birth-day of Herod 
— the band of the Roman legion played 
their own and Herod's favorite airs, and 
directed the steps and movements of 
Salome. 




CHAPTER VI. 



HEROD S PROMISE. 

SALOME'S performance had pleased 
Herod to such an extent, that his 
delight, and the wine perhaps of which 
he had too freely partaken, took his judg- 
ment captive. And in his eagerness to 
compliment the dancer, the king said 
unto the damsel, "Ask of me whatsoever 
thou wilt, and I will give it thee." This 
was already saying much, but he did not 
stop here. He went to a still greater ex- 
treme: "He promised with an oath to 
give her whatsoever she would ask." 
Matt. xiv. 7. Or as St. Mark relates it: 
"He sware unto her, "Whatsoever thou 
shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto 
the half of my kingdom." Mark vi. 23. 

35 



36 SALOME THE DANCER. 

The half of his kingdom for a dance! A 
great reward for such a performance, and 
hastily offered! But though Herod's pro- 
mise itself was extravagant, the sequel will 
show, that it was made to include more 
than he intended by it — more than the 
revenue of populous cities and vast landed 
estates. Human life itself was not ex- 
empt from the ruthless grasp of this rash 
vow; and justice and humanity, not to 
speak of other holy feelings, were crushed 
and broken by it. But the unguarded 
word had gone forth — the sworn promise 
had been accepted, and the wanton dancer 
did "ask" more than "the half" of what 
any kingdom is worth. 




CHAPTER VII. 



SALOMES REQUEST. 

Mark vi. 24, 25. 

WHEN Herod promised to give Salome 
whatever she would ask, he little 
thought perhaps how his promise would 
be taken advantage of, to his eternal dis- 
grace. Once made, the offer was speedily 
accepted. The festal assembly, applaud- 
ing Herod's liberality, longs or dreads to 
hear the dancer's choice. Salome, on the 
other hand, surprised by Herod's gene- 
rosity, and rapidly running her mind 
over the gifts usually bestowed by princes 
on their favorites — thinking of the gold 
and silver, the diamonds, emeralds and 
rubies which the generous offer presented 
to her choice — was at a loss to determine 

37 



88 SALOME THE DANCER. 

what particular one to prefer before all 
others. Being herself unable to decide, 
Salome requests her mother to assist -her 
in selecting a suitable boon. For this 
purpose she retires from the hall, in 
which she had danced before the admiring 
assemblage. A word or signal to her 
mother induces Herodias to follow her. 
When they are alone, with only the silent 
columns and the All-hearing God as wit- 
nesses of their hasty words, Salome said 
unto her mother: 

" What shall I ask ?" 

Her mother, a stranger to all humanity, 
is ready with an answer, and she said : 

"The head of John the Baptist." 

Herodias may have meditated this in- 
human request from the beginning of the 
feast. She knew that kings were in the 
habit of making their birth-days memo- 
rable by bestowing gifts and granting re- 
quests ; and she was prepared to abuse 



SALOME'S REQ UEST. 39 

her privilege on this occasion. But 
could she, when advising this heartless 
request, look her daughter in the face ? 
Did not her eyes quail with conscious 
guilt beneath the astonished gaze of 
Salome ? Or — alas, for poor sinful human 
nature when left to itself — was Salome 
herself so hardened by the cruelties of 
her ancestors upon their oppressed sub- 
jects, as to hear this cold-blooded murder 
proposed without horror ? It may be so, 
though for the honor of woman, we 
could wish it were otherwise. But we 
can hardly believe that she was averse to 
her mother s wish ; nay, rather that she 
executed with alacrity the murderous 
intentions of her mother. For when 
she and her mother had finished their 
hasty consultation as to what was to be 
asked of Herod, " she came in straight^ 
way with haste unto the king, and asked, 
saying : I will that thou give me, by and 



40 SALOME THE DANCER. 

by, in a charger, the head of John the 
Baptist." Does her "coming in straight- 
way with haste" not show that she felt 
she had now hit upon a boon, the posses- 
sion of which would gratify her more 
than any other? Was not her heart 
deeply engaged in Herodias' bloody 
scheme, when we find that she hurries it 
with "haste" to its desired termination 
and success? 

What a wish ! " I will that thou give 
me the head of John the Baptist." The 
head of a man who had never wronged 
her or her mother ; a man, too, who had 
already sacrificed his comfort and freedom 
for their own good and the good of their 
subjects* Yet his head must fall, his 
blood must flow, than whom there had 
been no greater prophet in Israel ! And 
that reverend head must be brought in a 
charger (a large dish) before the as- 
sembled nobles and princes ! A public 



SAL OMEPS REQ UEST. 41 

spectacle must be made of it ! The tri- 
umph of the dancer, and the revenge of 
her mother would not be complete with- 
out this disgraceful exhibition of their 
power ! 

So the request is made. Not made by 
the high captains and men of war, who 
are used to scenes of battle and blood, 
but by a tender princess brought up in 
all the luxury and refinement of an 
Oriental Court. But how corrupting was 
that luxury and debasing that refinement, 
is here clearly seen; for it is Salome that 
asks, and Herod that responds. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

HEROD GRANTS HER REQUEST. 

Matt. xiv. 9-11. Mark vi. 26-28. 

T may well be imagined that when 
Herod promised Salome the half of 
his kingdom, he had no suspicion what- 
ever that she would ask the life of one of 
his subjects — at least not that of John 
the Baptist, whom he himself regarded 
" as a just man and a holy, and observed 
him, and when he heard him he did many 
things, and heard him gladly." Here 
Scripture plainly teaches that feelings 
of a better nature often arose in Antipas. 
No wonder, therefore, that when he heard 
the request of the dancer ? " the king was 
sorry." St. Matthew says, " exceeding 
sorry." He now saw that his liberal offer 

42 



HEROD GRANTS HER REQUEST. 43 

tad been made in too unguarded a man- 
ner ; and that it was now taken advan- 
tage of by those in whom he had felt safe 
to confide. But a little wdiile before, 
Salome had tripped on "the light fantas- 
tic toe/' and delighted Herod and his 
guests by her art and skill. To compli- 
ment her. he had promised more than he 
had a right to bestow; and now the 
thought of surrendering John to her 
vengeance, filled him with gloom. 

But what was now to be done? 
Should he refuse to accede to her request, 
and thus violate the obligation under 
which he had voluntarily placed himself? 
He asked himself the question. To an- 
swer it required a struggle in his own 

± DO 

bosom between his better feelings and his 
evil passions. The latter gained the 
victory; and two things determined him 
to grant the Dancer's horrid request. 
The first was his oath, and the second 



44 SALOME THE DANCER. 

was his shame before the assembly to re- 
call his too hasty promise. 

1. His oath. As to the oath, Herod 
Antipas should never have taken it. 
Herein lay his fault. He acted incon- 
siderately. The Greek original has 
" oaths " (plural) ; and it is likely that he 
swore again and again. But when he 
found that his kind intentions were 
abused by the wicked Herodias and 
Salome, he should not have kept an oath 
or oaths, which required him to sin 
against God and man. No one can lay 
himself under obligation to sin. A 
promise to do what is sinful, is better 
broken than kept. Far better still had 
it been for Herod, not to have sworn at all. 
Now, with his low estimate of human life 
and incorrect notions of justice, he felt 
himself bound by the oath. And though 
he was " exceeding sorry," yet "for his 
oath's sake" he would not refuse her. 



EEROD GRANTS HER REQUEST. 45 

2. His fear of man. Herod was 
ashamed before the assembly to recall his 
rash promise. " For his oath's sake and 
for their sakes which sat with him at 
meat " he would not refuse her. What a 
struggle must have been going on within 
him, between his sense of justice on the 
one hand, and his fear of man on the 
other! His shame or false sense of honor 
triumphed ; and for the sake of appearing 
before his guests as a man who kept his 
word, he "would not reject her." 

The machinations of Herodias and her 
daughter, and perhaps of Herod himself, 
are prospering. The request for the 
head of John the Baptist is granted; and 
the weak Antipas " commanded it to 
be given her." A great reward for such 
a performance ! 




CHAPTER EX. 

THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

Mark vi. 27-29. 

THE request of the dancer was grant- 
ed. John the Baptist must die. 
The executioner, ever willing to do the 
bidding of his weak and wicked master, 
stands ready. Having received the com- 
mand he goes out to perform his work of 
blood. The atrocious Herodias hurries 
him off, lest a moment's reflection might 
induce Herod to recall the sentence of 
death 

In the fortress of Machaefus* lies the 
doomed prophet unconscious (5£ N his im- 
pending fate. He rejoices in his inno- 

*The ancient Machserus, the Modern Macera, is situated a 

little East of the Northern end of the Dead Sea, in latitude 31° 

53', longitude 53° 51'. 

46 



DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 47 

cence, and would rather suffer for the 
truth, than revel in luxury with the 
guilty conscience of Herod. To hiin, the 
offering of worship in his prison cell to 
God is sweeter far than the merry song of 
fools in Herod's hails. Though young in 
years, the prophet is prepared to die. He 
had lain bound in his gloomy dungeon, 
a close prisoner, for one year and a half; 
and the long and weary days and nights 
must have made him yearn for freedom, 
or death. He would have accepted the 
former, but was not afraid to meet the 
latter. To him, death was, as it is to all 
the children of God, 

" the gate to the Land of the Blest." 

Without a note of warning, the execu- 
tioner enters into his prison cell, and 
with the strong hand, and perhaps the 
unfeeling heart of a man used to such 
work, severs the head of John from his 
body, and bears it to the waiting assem- 



48 SALOME THE DANCER. 

bly in the palace hall near by. The 
guests were still assembled. Salome was 
there with them looking for the return of 
the executioner. He came " and brought 
his (the Baptist's) head in a charger, and 
gave it to the damsel (Salome), and the 
damsel gave it to her mother/' Hero- 
dias. The sight of the Baptist's head, 
instead of awakening some pity in that 
wicked queen, only enraged her the more. 
St. Jerome relates that she diverted her- 
self, with the barbarous amusement of 
drawing out his tongue and pricking it 
with a needle. 

Thus died John the Baptist, the fore- 
runner, relative and contemporary of 
Christ, and only six months sooner than 
He. 

His death was brought about by the 
vindictive spirit of Herodias, and has not 
the shadow of an excuse. He had preached 
the Truth and boldly taught Herod that 



DEATH OF JOHX THE BAPTIST. 49 

it was not lawful for him to have Hero- 
dias, the wife of his brother Philip who 
was himself still living, But this, should 
not have offended either Herod or Hero- 
dias. It should rather have led them to re- 
pent of their sins and scandalous conduct 
— Herod taking back his true and lawful 
wife ; and Herodias, her true and lawful 
husband. They should have rejoiced in- 
deed, that they had in their kingdom a 
prophet such as John, who, with rare in- 
dependence and strength of mind, taught 
the truth without fear or favor. Humble, 
self-denying and zealous for the word of 
the Lord, he preached earnestly that the 
kingdom of heaven was at hand, and the 
consequent duty of all to " repent and be 
baptized." He coveted no fame — he had 
no ill designs upon the government, and 
only desired to prepare men of high and 
low degree, for the coming of his and their 
Saviour. Besides, he was in prison, and 



50 SALOME TEE DANCER. 

no manner of danger could possibly be 
apprehended from him. But he had 
fearlessly exposed their sins, and the 
malignant spirit of Herodias sought re- 
venge upon him. John must become a 
victim to her unmitigated hatred, and 
her own daughter must be the instru- 
ment for the accomplishment of his death. 
From what we have said thus far, it 
might seem that Herod himself was inno- 
cent of all evil intentions towards John ; 
and that what he did, he was led to do 
through the snares laid for him by Hero- 
dias and her daughter. There is no 
doubt but that the former had plotted the 
death of the Baptist, for some time previ- 
ous to the celebration of Herod's birth- 
day, and now took advantage of the king, 
when perhaps he was full of wine and 
ready to grant any request however un- 
reasonable. But this view of the case 
exonerates Herod more fully than he 



DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, 51 

deserves. For though he may not have 
hated John with the perfect hatred of 
Herodias, he still must always share with 
her the blame of his death. While He- 
rodias was the prime instigator of the 
plot, it is probable that Herod was cog- 
nizant of her murderous intentions. He 
may himself have participated in all her 
plans and may have known before he 
made his promise what would be asked 
of him. He may have secretly engaged 
to afford her an opportunity, by means of 
his promise, which would effectually re- 
venge both herself and himself on John. 
If so, all his pretended respect for his 
oaths and his guests was mere hypocriti- 
cal sham. We say all this is possible, 
and while we are not sure that he partici- 
pated in the plot against John's life, we 
may perhaps justly infer that much from 
his previous conduct towards him. For 
St. Matthew assures us that Herod had at 



52 SALOME THE DANCER, 

the time when lie first imprisoned John 
(one and a half years previous) contem- 
plated his murder. Then "he would 
have put him (the Baptist) to death/' but 
"he feared the multitude, because they 
counted him as a prophet." Matt. xiv. 5. 
If these feelings, which then actuated 
him, continued to influence him at the 
time of which we speak, he, in all proba- 
bility, shared with Herodias the sin of 
John the Baptist's violent death. But 
whatever may have been the part per- 
formed by him in this mournful tragedy, 
his birthday feast ended in gloom. It 
has been well said : other kings graced 
their birthdays with acts of clemency ; 
Herod, his, with a deed of blood. 

The disciples of John had the melan- 
choly satisfaction of burying the body of 
their master as the last token of their 
respect and love. We experience a 
solemn feeling of sympathy with them 



DEATH OF JOHN TEE BAPTIST. 53 

in their affliction, as we read : " And 
when the disciples heard of it, they 
came and took his corpse, and laid 
it in a tomb, and went and told 
Jesus." Matt. xiv. 12; Mark vi. 29. 
Whether they obtained the head of their 
master for burial with his body is not 
known. It is likely, however, that after 
satiating her revenge by gazing upon and 
abusing the lifeless head of her unfortu- 
nate victim, Herodias resigned it into the 
hands of some one, through whom it was 
brought to the disciples, and by them to 
an honorable tomb. Mild and modest, 
but zealous, faithful and bold in life, he 
rests from his labors and sleeps well. 
His grave is not certainly known, but 
some authors hold to the opinion that he 
lies buried at Sebaste (Samaria). Being 
dead he yet speaketh. 

The memory of the just is blessed ; 

But the name of the wicked shall rot. Prov. x. 7. 



CHAPTER X. 



SALOME S AFTER-LIFE. 



THE handling of the head of John the 
Baptist is the last act recorded of 
Salome and her notorious mother. It is 
the last act in this dark tragedy in which 
they are permitted to appear. Of her 
after-life the sacred record says nothing, 
and tradition, but little that is reliable. 
She was married twice. By her first 
husband Philip, a descendant of the royal 
house of Herod, she had no children. 
Her second husband was Aristobulus^ a 
great-grandson of Herod the Great. 
The fruit of this union was several chil- 
dren, the history of whose lives is buried 
in obscurity. Doubtless the Apostles — 
particularly those who had previously 

54 



SALOME'S AFTER-LIFE. 55 

been disciples of John— were acquainted 
with Salome; and may have seen her 
often in Galilee, and in other parts of the 
Holy Land. But they no more name the 
daughter of Herodias. They charitably 
consign her to that oblivion which her 
crime merits, but will not "permit her to 
enjoy. Tradition or history, however 
pretends to lift the veil which here hides 
her from our view, and to give us an ac- 
count of her after-life and death. "Nice- 
phorus and Metaphrastes state, that Sa- 
lome accompanied her mother Herodias, 
and her father-in-law Herod, in their ban- 
ishment to Vienne in Dauphiny, and that 
the Emperor having obliged them to go 
into Spain, as she passed over a river 
that was frozen, the ice broke under her 
feet, and she sunk in up to her neck, 
when the ice uniting again, she remained 
thus suspended by it, and suffered the 
same punishment she had made John the 



56 SALOME THE DANCER. 

Baptist undergo." That these events 
were possible none will doubt, but there 
is an air of improbability about the state- 
ment. None of the old writers mention 
it ; and according to Josephus she must 
have lived above thirty years after the 
death of the Baptist (A. D. 32). Nor 
have we any evidence that she left her 
country with her mother. On the con- 
trary, her marriage., first with Philip, then 
with Aristobulus, plainly proves her con- 
tinued residence in the land over which 
the house of Herod reigned. If so, the 
banishment of her parents separated 
Salome and them for life. Surviving 
their exile for many years, she had ample 
time to reflect upon the part she had 
acted in the murder which stained their 
memory with indelible infamy. 

Herodias, too, might wander far from 
the people her inhumanity had scanda- 
lized, but no nook or corner of the vast 



SALOME'S AFTER-LITE. 57 

Roman Empire could shield her from the 
keen pangs of remorse, the lashings of an 
outraged conscience. And Salome, losing 
in three score years the agility which once 
gave ease and grace to her movements in 
the dance, had sufficient leisure to review 
and perhaps repent of her crime. Out- 
wardly she may have lived in luxury and 
ease, but hers was nevertheless a hard lot 
— a heart oppressed with consuming care, 
beyond the reach of earthly cure. The 
hands which once bore "the Baptist's 
head in a charger" might well tremble, 
and the eyes which beheld the horrid 
sight, grow dim, when Salome called to 
mind his innocence and her own guilt. 
Couches of softest down, in chambers of 
elegance and beauty could bring neither 
comfort nor rest to her. Such a crushing 
burden on the soul, must have made her 
whole head sick, and her whole heart 
faint. 



58 SALOME THE DANCER. 

We have no historical evidence that 
Salome was ever reclaimed by the regener- 
ating grace of God in Christ, and thus 
made a follower of Him to whom John 
the Baptist directs — the Lamb of God 
which taketh away the sin of the world. 

But in the absence of facts, on the other 
hand, to prove her continuance in sin, it 
is not impossible but that the sorrows and 
remorse which must have embittered her 
life, may have led her to seek peace 
through the Prince of peace; and that the 
blood of John the Baptist may have been 
the means of bringing her to a saving 
knowledge of Him, whose " blood cleans- 
eth from all sin," even such offenders as 
Herodias' daughter, Salome, the Dancer. 



CHAPTER XL 

DANCING. 

THERE are numerous portions of scrip- 
ture in which allusion is made to 
dancing. Though not often engaged in 
for amusement, dancing was so very com- 
mon among the Israelites that even the 
children in the street imitated it. While 
some of these "piped," others "danced." 
Women and maidens especially joined in 
it, in parties and in solo dances at feasts. 
Anniversaries of victories, the return of 
princes and warriors, public festivals and 
all seasons of mirth and rejoicing, were 
celebrated with dancing. It was also em- 
ployed in religious solemnities, and thus 
formed a part of the sacred worship of the 
people. The Israelites, indeed, seem to 

59 



60 SALOME THE DANCER. 

have been unacquainted with profane 
dances. When females danced alone or 
in company, they often played the timbrel 
or tambourine themselves. Sometimes 
the song and the dance were combined; 
at others, the dance was timed by the 
music of harps and psalteries. 

In viewing the modern dance in the 
light of Scripture it is safe to say, that 
nothing can be found in that Sacred Re- 
cord to sanction the common and often 
indecent dances of our own time, practiced 
by the two sexes promiscuously. " None 
but the carnal-minded," says Eichter, 
"will be able to find in the sacred dances 
of the Bible a defence of profane dancing." 

From a careful comparison of all the 
passages of the Bible bearing on this sub- 
ject, an ingenious writer draws the fol- 
lowing conclusions, the correctness of 
which we cheerfully endorse* : 



* See Pastor's Helper, published by Kev. Gr. B. Russell, April, 



DANCING. 61 

1. That dancing was a religious act, 
both in true, and also, in idol worship. 

2. That it was practiced exclusively on 
joyful occasions, such as national festivals 
or real victories. 

3. That it was performed on such great 
occasions only by one of the sexes. 

4. That it was performed usually in 
the day-time, in the open air, in highways, 
fields, and groves. 

5. That men who perverted dancing 
from a sacred use to purposes of amuse- 
ment were deemed infamous. 

6. That no instances of dancing are 
found upon record in the Bible, in 
which the two sexes united in the exer- 
cise, either as an act of worship or amuse- 
ment. 

7. That there are no instances upon 
record in the Bible of social dancing for 



1864 ; also, Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge. Article, 
Dancing. 



62 SALOME TEE DANCER. 

amusement, except that of a the vain fel- 
lows/' void of shame, alluded to by Michal 
(2 Sam. vi. 20) ; of the irreligious families 
described by Job, which produced in- 
creased impiety, 'and ended in destruc- 
tion; and of the worthless daughter of 
Herodias, which terminated in the rash 
vow of Herod and the murder of John 
the Baptist. 

Certainly neither "the vain fellows," 
nor the ungodly rich families (Job xxi. 
7-11), nor yet Herodias' daughter, are fit 
models for the imitation of Christian 
youths and maidens, men and women. 
Even virtuous heathens, living in the 
palmiest days of the Roman Empire, con- 
demn the practice on account of the evils 
usually resulting from it. We here cite 
the opinion of but one. Cicero, the cele- 
brated Roman orator (B. C. 106-43), who 
saw ev*y form of the dance practiced in 
•his day, openly disapproves of it, and de- 



DANCING. 63 

clares it improper for respectable individ- 
uals to take part in it. He says : " No 
one dances unless he is either drunk or 
mad." 

All along the path of history the voice 
of the great and good has been lifted up 
against the practice. Luther declares 
that one must be as a child, if he "would 
dance without sin. And Calvin is un- 
compromisingly severe against it. Of 
modern dancing an eminent living divine 
says: "It .must be allowed that modern 
dancing is generally objectionable. Ends 
that deserve only to be condemned are 
merged in others that might be consider- 
ed good. The practice is made subser- 
vient to mere sensuality, and stands con- 
nected with various sorts of dissipation. 
In view of its bad tendencies it ought to 
be discouraged."* Gerlach says : " The 



* Rev. Dr. J. "W. Nevin's Notes on Moral Philosophy. 



64 SALOME THE DANCER, 

degradation of the dance to frivolity and 
sensual pleasure has alienated it, like 
many other important spheres of the 
liberal arts, from the worship of God/' 

Notwithstanding all that has been, or 
may be said in their favor, our common 
ball-room dances certainly have a ten- 
dency to undue levity and the awakening 
of evil desires. They moreover do a vast 
amount of evil by infringing upon the 
hours of labor, devotion and rest. The 
sacred duties that claim the regard of the 
young in the family and the Church are 
all made to yield frequently to the de- 
mands of the dance. Young, unsuspect- 
ing, away from the beneficial restraints of 
home, during the dark hours of night, 
under physical and mental excitement, 
and in the company often of entire 
strangers, is it a wonder that many a 
promising daughter, with fair prospects of 
a happy and useful life before her, has 



DANCING. 65 

fallen into the snares of the tempter? 
And is it surprising that under the same 
unhallowed influences many young men, 
the hope and pride of fond parents, have 
sacrificed money, health, character, and 
even the hope of salvation? In view of 
these facts, it has been wisely urged that 
if dancing cannot be regulated and made 
subservient to better ends, it should be 
abandoned altogether. Called a diversion, 
it really is a snare for souls. Danger and 
death lurk in it. The profligate and 
libertine are always ready to avail them- 
selves of the occasions of sin which 
" balls" afford; and many a fair flower is 
crushed beneath their feet, which but for 
their polluting touch, might have been in 
the parental home and social circle 

" A thing of beauty and a joy forever." 

In conclusion, we solemnly ask, do not 
those parents sadly misunderstand their 
duty who send their children to dancing 



66 SALOME THE DANCER. 

schools — a serious evil in most of our 
cities and larger towns — to learn from 
masters a to whom they are ashamed to 
speak in public?" In such schools children 
learn that which adds nothing to their 
real accomplishments, their virtue or their 
piety, but much that is detrimental to all 
these. The ball-room may have charms 
for many, but in most, if not in all cases, 
its unholy influence upon the soul will, in 
after life, and on the bed of death, bite like 
a serpent and sting like an adder. The 
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance. Gal. v. 22, 23. 
These grace our steps, adorn our actions, 
and ennoble our entire life. Piety is a 
plant that thrives not in the contaminated 
air of a ball-room; and believers in every 
age of the world have found it far better 
to dwell with saints on earth in the house 
of God, than with Salome in the festal 
halls of Herod. 



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